Midweek Musings: TCU Recruiting Update

A horde of highly talented recruits made their way to Fort Worth this past weekend, and were showered with praise and attention from the coaching staff and current players in an attempt to bolster an already impressive commits list for 2013.

The kids that visited this weekend:

DT Andrew Billings, Waco HS. 4-stars. 6'1"/305/5.0

Holds offers from: TCU, Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, etc.

Billings has narrowed down to three schools as we close in on signing day, Texas, Baylor and TCU. He was a hard Texas lean for quite some time, but has recently become more interested in the Frogs and Bears. His visit this weekend is said to have gone well, and in an interview with Jeremiah Glenn of HornedFrogBlitz.com Billings is quoted as saying, "It just keeps getting better every time." referring to his multiple visits to TCU.

Billings has one more visit scheduled, to Baylor, for the 25th of January, after which all three schools will probably be all over him trying to get a commitment. Billings has made it known he plans to announce his decision on signing day. Depending on who you talk to and what fan base they're associated with, it seems like Billings is leaning towards all three schools at this point (ha).

Percent chance of landing Billings: 33%. I know that's cheap, but frankly I have no idea where this guy will go. If you had a gun to my head, I'd probably say Texas.

WR DeMarquise Polite-Bray, King HS (Lithonia, GA). 2-stars. 6'1"/180/4.54

Holds offers from: TCU, Louisville, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Ole Miss, etc.

Polite-Bray has seen his recruiting jump through the roof during, and after, his incredible senior season. He's another Georgia kid, and it seems like the TCU staff is developing quite the repertoire with recruits from the land of peaches.

After his visit this weekend, Polite-Bray has TCU listed as his #1 option. He's scheduled to visit Texas Tech this weekend, but I wouldn't be too concerned about him changing his mind.

Percent chance of landing Polite-Bray: 85%. 85% seems like there may be room for him to change his mind, but I see him as almost being a lock to commit to the Frogs. I didn't place a higher percentage on him simply because it's impossible to read into what an 18-year-old kid will do at the last second.

OG Josh Outlaw, King HS (Lithonia, GA). 3-stars. 6'4"/285/5.2

Holds offers from: TCU, Arkansas, Auburn, Texas Tech, Florida, Georgia, etc.

No, Outlaw's high school isn't a typo. He's a teammate of Polite-Bray, and both are former teammates with TCU Fullback Jordan Moore. People are very high on Outlaw right now, and for good reason. He could come in and immediately have a positive impact on this offensive line that was subpar last season.

Like his high school teammate Polite-Bray, Outlaw has TCU as his #1 coming away from the visit this weekend.

Percent chance of landing Outlaw: 85%. Like with Polite-Bray, I think TCU is almost a lock to get Outlaw. Chances increase for the Frogs to land both once one of the two make their commitment official.

TE Gary Moore, Clarksville HS. 3-stars. 6'5"/215/No 40 time listed.

Holds offers from: TCU, Texas Tech, Tulsa, Missouri, Memphis, etc.

Moore is another promising kid who has TCU on the top of his list, although it seems like he's also somewhat high on Tulsa and Missouri. A wide receiver in high school, Moore has the measureables to be a tight end in college. It's rumored that he isn't opposed to playing defensive end as well, but I'm not sure about how accurate that is.

Listed as high as 4-stars by 247, Moore will be productive wherever he plays on the field. Another interesting fact to note is that now-departed wide receivers coach Trey Haverty was Moore's main recruiter. Obviously his visit this weekend gave him a chance to meet more of the coaching staff, but don't underestimate Haverty. He's a very good recruiter.

Percent chance of landing Moore: 70%. Again, I'm pretty confident that Moore will end up a Horned Frog, but with the Haverty connection, you never know.

The one that snubbed us: MLB/RB Darian Claiborne, Port Allen HS (Port Allen, LA). 4-Stars. 6'0"/220/4.5

Committed To: Texas A&M

Claiborne visited the Aggies on January 11th, and followed that visit with a no show in Fort Worth. He committed to Texas A&M earlier this week.

Current Commits that Stopped By: Kyle Hicks and Trevorris Johnson.

Rumor has it that Gary Patterson put his arms around Hicks and Johnson this weekend and said something to the effect of, "Looks like I've got my Thunder and my Lightning." Thinking about that just gives me chills. The good kind.

The Current Commit List:

4-Stars

RB Kyle Hicks, Arlington Martin - 5'10"/195/4.4

3-Stars

OL Eason Fromayan, Milton HS (Alpharetta, GA) - 6'5"/275/5.12

C Patrick Morris, Denton Guyer HS - 6'3"/285/4.9

RB Trevorris Johnson, Houston Taylor HS - 5'11"/215/4.48

WR Cameron Echols-Luper, Auburn HS (Auburn, AL) - 6'0"/190/4.55

TE Charlie Reid, All Saints Episcopal HS - 6'4"/230/4.59

TE Bryson Burtnett, Springtown HS - 6'5"/220/4.61

DB George Baltimore, Mansfield HS - 6'0"/205/4.5

DB Ranthony Texada, Frisco Centennial HS - 5'10"/160/4.38

DB Steve Wesley, Arlington Bowie HS - 6'1"/175/4.48

LB Sammy Douglas, Arlington HS - 6'3"/195/4.6

LB Dac Shaw, Mineola HS - 6'2"/215/4.56

LB Paul Whitmill, Bastrop HS - 6'0"/205/4.5

DE Bryson Henderson, Arlington Mansfield Summit HS - 6'6"/240/4.89

DE Joseph Noteboom, Plano Senior HS - 6'6"/262/4.75

ATH Ty Slanina, East Bernard HS - 6'0"/185/4.31

2-Stars

QB Zach Allen, Temple HS - 6'3"/185/4.52

OT Lloyd Tunstill, JUCO College of the Canyons (Santa Clarita, CA) - 6'3"/330/5.5

All rankings are based on those provided by Scout.com.